


You're the one I love

by jisungskirt



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cute Han Jisung | Han, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Lee Minho | Lee Know is Whipped, M/M, Oblivious Han Jisung | Han, Pining, Requited Unrequited Love, Self-Discovery, Slow Burn, Temporarily Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:00:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27121492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jisungskirt/pseuds/jisungskirt
Summary: You can’t choose who you fall in love with. That is why Minho has to accept that he has painfully fallen in love with his straight best friend Jisung, and that Jisung will never be the one who falls in love with him.As if Minho isn’t suffering enough, now he’s lied that he is in love with Jisung’s friend, and Jisung proposes that they can help each other get with the girls they love. Except Minho isn’t in love with a girl. He is in love with Jisung, and has to help Jisung date someone who isn’t him.Or, two idiots are in love, but neither will admit it.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 23
Kudos: 82





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> hi ! this is my first work on ao3, and i'm not the best writer, but i spent a lot of time planning this fic out, and i've already prepared every chapter so im really excited to share them all here! theres gonna b ab 27 chapters so have fun seeing them being confused idiots who can't admit their feelings :D
> 
> also- theres gonna b minor jisung in a skirt content because. i fucking can
> 
> anyways, i'm gonna give a few warnings and notes before i continue on. 
> 
> Firstly, there will be mentions of jisung's anxiety. to clarify, i myself also struggle with anxiety and know very well how serious it is. anxiety is not the center of this fic, so it won't be mentioned much or written descriptively. There will also be mentions of sex, but only really 1-2 chapters of smut, smut isn't really the center of this fic either, as i'm a little uncomfortable writing it, but it will happen. I will make a note of when smut does happen, so you can skip that chapter if you're not comfortable enough to read it.
> 
> other than that, really it's just a lot of them being adorable and denial of feelings. minho is just so soft around jisung, you can tell he really cares about him and hjdjskagjk- im not gonna say too much hehe
> 
> anyways, enjoy the prologue !! <3

Minho is weird. 

He’s heard those words a few times, often discreetly whispered light-heartedly behind his back.

Maybe the first time he heard them he was confused, but then he decided it didn’t bother him. I mean, it was true, wasn’t it? His way of approaching people was different. 

Minho’s values in life are to have fun. Always have been, he supposes that people around him assumed he was going to grow up- to eventually get to an age where he stops enjoying doing childish things like teasing and playfully whining. When it comes to making conversation, Minho would consider himself extroverted, enjoying being around people and socializing. Normally meeting someone, you are polite and careful. You take time to ease your way into someone’s life. Small talk, and a simple “nice to meet you”, is a safe, boring way, a common way, to start building an acquaintance. For Minho, small talk isn’t his thing. Or maybe he just doesn’t understand the need for them- he’d much rather skip the casual small talking stage and go straight to teasing each other and discussing whether or not aliens exist. Straight to the point; they either hit it off well, or they’re weirded out and then Minho makes the decision that they’re not meant to be friends. And then there’s the exact opposite of the spectrum as far as conversations go, which are the deep conversations.

It’s not that Minho doesn’t like exploring deep, psychological thoughts either, he just isn’t comfortable being vulnerable. His head is constantly full of complex emotions and very intricate curiosity. The difficulty lies in sharing them with other people. It’s no secret that Minho thinks that maybe he should start working on that aspect of himself, as he does with everything else he doesn’t understand or struggles with. Especially if he admits to himself that he wants to commit to a relationship. 

Minho is attractive, at least that’s what he’s been told. Minho is aware he’s not drop dead gorgeous- not someone you would drop everything for just to be with him. Not like his friend Hyunjin, but his previous girlfriends and close friends have admitted that he has a very sharp face and handsome features. He’s not the tallest, or the leanest- his body being built on all the years of dancing and working out, but nevertheless, attractive to the point pretty girls have asked him for his number and have found him handsome. 

Naturally, as Minho has experienced, a mutual attraction leads to dating. 

Relationships have always been an odd concept to Minho. What exactly is attraction? Why are certain things deemed attractive, while others aren’t? And when he observes the concept of attraction, he theorizes that attraction is a cruel thing. Whenever Minho would enter a relationship, it wouldn’t be long before he questions exactly what he finds attractive about this person. Attraction doesn’t make sense at all; it’s random and spontaneous. Why does one person find a certain thing attractive while the other person doesn’t? He simply can’t understand it, but regardless never does anything to try to. He settles with, that’s just how it is, and there’s no use in over-complicating things. Attraction itself is already confusing, but the concept of falling in love is even more taboo. Falling in love. It’s a phrase that gives Minho a certain uneasiness, to the point where anxiousness is built up inside his mind with overwhelming thoughts, destroying his constant facade of confidence. But Minho is Minho, so he doesn’t voice his opinion on dating. Not like anyone would think that Lee Minho- the man who’s been dating girls since as young as thirteen would worry about falling in love. As far as his peers know, Minho has had to have been in love at least once. It’s inevitable right? He’s dated all sorts of pretty girls, each with very different personalities and quirks to them. Besides, what’s the point in worrying about falling in love? It’s a natural thing that will come to Minho if it wants to. Worrying will just make Minho miserable anyways. 

His first girlfriend was a vague memory. At a young age he began dating, which, as his friends would complain about, makes sense since he’s one of the more attractive people in their school. A social person too, with an endearing personality that is magnetically unusual, from the way he pulls harmless jokes on teachers, to the way he would lean down, crouched, and talk softly to stray cats he spotted on his way to school. 

When he began to mature more, he realized there was something off in his relationships. When things were supposed to get intimate, as dating becomes less light hearted and more serious, Minho would have no problem making out or doing less than appropriate forms of touching, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that Minho couldn’t be intimate verbally. His girlfriend would try and discuss life, their future, and Minho wouldn’t add much to the conversation. Normally, he would give a few hums and nods, and would pop his mouth open in an ‘o’ shape, revealing his very slightly crooked two front teeth. Even when he swallows his pride and begins to lightly open up, pushing past his uncomfortable feelings, it would still never be enough. 

He probably could be more verbal and genuine if he really tried, but the awkwardness in his gut and lack of desire to discuss a deep topic with someone he doesn’t feel truly connected to is what ultimately stops the sincere words from coming out. Deep conversations, he reasons, take the fun out of life, and as far as he’s concerned, he’s never had a partner who agrees with him.

When confronted with his lack of tact, he would affectionately apologize and make an effort to be more thoughtful and open with his emotions. The problem is that it was so uncomfortable and awkward for him to do so. Now Minho is very much far away from apathetic or uncaring- in fact he is a very emotional person who cares a lot about people close to him, but for some reason conveying his genuine emotions through words- words which hold no meaning on it’s own unless there’s a intent behind them, increasingly creates a sort of unwanted awkwardness for him. In his head, he knows it's not easy to be vulnerable to someone without a genuine connection between them. Which is why, many of Minho’s relationships end because his partner is frustrated with his lack of opening up, or Minho feels so painfully apologetic and guilty that he knows he can’t express himself how he would like to, thus ending it before it hurts too much for the other person to stay with him. 

At this point, Minho accepts that maybe that’s just how it is. Simply, talking about his feelings is not his thing, or at least, not his thing for most people. Most people, which might as well be anyone Minho has associated himself with. Although guilty, maybe one day he will find a girl that he feels connected enough to share all this pent up, raw, messy emotions too. It has never been a priority to have an outlet or a serious relationship, so he decides he will enjoy life as much as he can before he has to grow up, become an adult and get married. 

Instead, Minho develops an unresolved dread of relationships. This intense worry is never voiced, for as far as his friends are convinced, Minho would be the last person to develop a negative opinion on dating, especially when he hangs out with his friends with a constant playful attitude.

If anyone notices that Minho is off, he’s quick to smile and assure them that he is in fact totally okay and content with his life. Which is undoubtedly true, he is happy and grateful for this life. He doesn’t have anything to complain about really- at least compared to people around him. He’s fairly attractive, he has a loving family, a nice and well furnished house, and a decent amount of friends that he considers himself fairly close to. What truly makes him happy is that he’s found something he wants to pursue and on top of that, enjoys doing it. After school ever since junior high, he would go to a small dance studio a few blocks away from his house and spend all night laughing and working out with a stable dance team. He’s made friends quickly there, and has accepted the many dissatisfied looks he gets from his parents for spending so much time on something they think should stay as a hobby. He finds himself releasing all his pent up emotions and frustration on dance. He finds the art beautiful, and is more than fine with knowing that his ideal career won’t earn him as much money as other careers that his parents want him to pursue instead. He also begins to pick up other hobbies as well, attending regular boxing classes.

When he’s not dancing in his freetime, he would occupy himself by committing small acts of kindness to make the world just a little better. Never would he admit that he regularly visits an old fashioned, family owned bakery, talking to little old ladies to make them laugh, or that he actively helps out at animal shelters and adopts cats who are in need of homes. Maybe he feels a little uncomfortable having people see him like that- gentle and so out of his usual sarcastic self. His usual self who is snarky and childish, enjoying messing with his friends as his way of showing affection. His friends would never believe that Minho would act that way, gentle and empathetic, as far as outsiders know, Minho doesn’t care about people. However, that's far from it. Minho knows he’s very interested in his surroundings and how animals and people act. 

In conclusion, Minho knows he is content having fun, superficial relationships and nothing more. He sees no need for more than exactly that right now anyways. Besides, there’s no harm in enjoying simply a cute girl kissing you softly and giving you words of validation, and giving them back. He can’t lie and say he doesn’t enjoy the pleasure aspect out of it too. 

Besides, even if Minho is discontent with his inability to commit to loving and sincere relationships, he knows it won’t stop him from enjoying the other exciting things in his life. He loves being around his small circle of close friends, and spending hours on end working his ass off at the studio- doing something he loves with sweat dripping down his body knowing that he is getting results in his hard work and putting his effort into something that will make him happy in the future. 

He is fine. He has his life together and he knows what he does and doesn’t like, and when he is unsure of something, he sorts out his feelings and takes time to get a conclusion as quickly as possible. Minho doesn’t care what other people think of him, wasting time, worrying about the opinions of people he doesn’t care about, is impractical and gets in the way of having fun in life. He doesn’t waste his valuable time that he could spend doing what he loves, worrying. Sure, he has insecurities and problems, but everyone does. He’s well aware of this. Minho would never admit that maybe he does have deep, dark insecurities and low self esteem that he hides with denial and the assurance of a giggle or smile when asked. He is fine with putting up a facade of fake confidence that some can’t figure out if it’s satire or not. Minho thinks, maybe if he does end up finding someone he can truly love unconditionally, he would be able to let out years of bottled up and ignored feelings and thoughts. It’s a scary thought, being that vulnerable. Could he even bring himself to that point one day? 

There’s a recurring thought that seems to vaguely surface in his head before he pushes it away. Maybe his biggest insecurity, darkest fear, is that, for once in his life, he would be on the receiving end of being the one who tries to make a connection that the other person can’t fulfil. To feel exactly what he put all his previous girlfriends through due to his inability to communicate. 

To feel love finally, opening up with a warmth and bliss spreading all throughout him, his years of locked up emotions and vulnerability; only to be rejected.


	2. 제 1 장

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back with the first chapter, and I've decided my updating schedule is going to fall somewhere between every Monday of every week. I am really excited to be writing this story and already have chapter 2 written and ready to share next week :))
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

When Jisung explains to his parents at a young age that he wants to major in music; more specifically produce his own, they immediately told him he was being silly, that Jisung should grow up and pursue a more practical job, like engineering or lawyering. 

Life has its own plans though. Han Jisung, age 18, grown up, is now hunched on a cold bench in the middle of Seoul, South Korea: his legs squished together, elbows pressed into his knees, head held weakly into his small palms as he tries not to have a mental breakdown. The more people that pass by, trying to get to where they need to go without batting an eye at just another seemingly lost stranger, the more Jisung seriously considers just going back home to Malaysia.

Jisung never had many friends, and the ones he got close to, he got too close to. Talking their ear off, and annoying the hell out of them at times. That’s why when Jisung dropped everything to commit to something as unpredictable as music, he was surprised to find out that he wasn’t entirely alone. His childhood friend, and neighbor for several years from when they were little kids, Choi Yena, was also attending the same University that Jisung wanted to go to. 

“I’ll meet you at the subway, I haven’t seen you in forever!” 

Well, that was clearly, obviously, a lie, as just an hour before Jisung arrived at the foot of the subway entrance, he received a call that something came up and she wouldn’t be able to make it. Fucking perfect.

It doesn’t help that he arrived here in the late afternoon, with the sun going down quickly, it’s not long before it reaches the evening when Seoul is busy and terrifying alone. The city becomes illuminated in bright lights that Jisung can only picture in his head, considering he is very much situated underground, practically suffocating from the large amounts of people passing him by every second in a rush. 

So yeah, in short, Jisung is sitting alone, in the middle of a huge ass city, with no idea what to do, or how to get to his apartment complex.

He was supposed to meet his roommate about twenty minutes ago, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen. As if things couldn’t get any worse, more people began crowding around the gate intervals that Jisung sat by. The area was loud, people shouting and moving, along with the consistent loud noises that came from the station where the bus was located as it traveled passengers from place to place. 

Jisung brought his knees up to his chest, and squirmed uncomfortably on the bench. His small frame was engulfed in a loose grey hoodie that was too big for him. With a hood over his messy bleach blonde hair, and his headphones in, he tried to relax. He took a deep breath in, followed by an exhale. He looked around at the sea of strangers, each one ignoring him as they walked busily throughout the large hallowed subway station; lined with firmly built brick walls, and clean, polished concrete.

Jisung will admit, the place was nice, way more furnished and established than what he expected a subway to look like. It was different from his home back in Malaysia. There were even small shops and restaurants inside of the underground building. Jisung knew there was no way he was going to miss out on getting a warm, freshly baked pastry for the ride, and purchased a small chocolate cake pop and an iced americano. Despite it reaching almost the dark part of the evening, Jisung would never miss an opportunity to have his favorite drink and a high quality chocolate treat. 

Well, that excitement didn’t last long. Jisung was already hungry again, but decided it was probably better not to waste too much money on expensive subway food. Besides, he’s had better iced americanos, which is why his large sized drink sits half empty right at Jisung’s side. He didn’t feel like finishing it, he’d much rather have another warm pastry, but that would have to wait. The strong aroma of fancy baked treats that flooded out of the little shops was tempting though. 

After a little while more of sitting, overwhelmed with feelings of anxiety coursing through his veins at the thought of having to figure out how to board the subway bus and interact with strangers, eventually Jisung musters up the courage to move from his slouched position on his now well acquainted station bench. He slings his bag around his shoulders, settling on his back, moving an arm up to position his messy hair a little. With his head held timidly low, he begins walking through the gate, on his way to the largely printed map in the center of the station, to look at it again for the millionth time in hopes maybe something will finally get through his head and Jisung will understand what the hell he’s doing. It shouldn’t be that complicated. 

Yeah well, when he looks at the map again- clustered with large amounts of bright colors and numbers that don’t make sense to him, he realizes exactly why he was avoiding coming back to it for so long. A drop to his stomach makes Jisung realize that he’d much rather just go back to his little bench than avoid facing problems like reading a word filled map and interacting with people. But no, Jisung is an adult now, and he is going to do this. He’s not the same, weak boy he was in highschool. 

He sighs, and begins looking at all the directions, trying to pinpoint the street his apartment is at. After staring at it in a focused gaze for what he assumes is probably an embarrassing amount of time, due to the fact he can feel the stares on his back, he eventually makes the conclusion he’s either fucked or he needs to ask someone for help. I mean, if he really wanted to he could just blindly hop on the bus and hope for the best, but the loud noises that come from the high speed of the bus whipping on the underground tracks, paired with the clusters of people he’d have to face, intimidates him too much to just be so carefree about it. Oh how he wished he wasn’t so stupid to waste all his phone battery earlier when he was sitting on that cold, uncomfortable bench earlier. Maybe then he could've used his head and looked up how to use a map. He’s supposed to meet his roommate, which he was so excited for. His boxes of stuff from home had probably already arrived at his dorm by now. Instead, here he is, crouched with his knees together, on the dirty floor of a subway, trying to focus on the paper pamphlet he picked up in hopes maybe there will be an explanation of what the hell to do. 

When Jisung meets Minho, there is no special connection or instant click. In fact, neither of them think much of it. Perhaps Minho noticed a small boy looking lost on the ground, and felt some weird sort of pity. Maybe it was because he has been looking at the map for like ten minutes before eventually falling to the ground in frustration, or maybe it was because he had a sort of lost puppy look in his eyes. Normally Minho probably would have minded his own business, but when he noticed no one was going to help him, something inside of him told him the least he can do is ask if he’s okay. It’s not like Minho has never gone out of his way to help people anyway. 

Jisung hears a soft voice from above him.

“Uh, do you need help?”

And when Jisung whips his head up to where the voice was coming from, hoping to god the stranger was referring to him, he’s met with a boy his age, maybe older, with light brown hair and a concerned look on his face. Well, he most likely is referring to him, given that he is raising his eyebrows and looking directly at Jisung. 

Logically, Jisung should respond with gratitude and a confirmation that yes, he does indeed need help, and he is lost as fuck, but instead Jisung is pissed off that some random dude his age thinks he needs help. Jisung looks up at the boy, red from embarrassment. 

“No.”

“But you’ve been sitting on the ground for like ten minutes dude.”

To say the least, Jisung is a little surprised at the lack of common formality most strangers would use to address people they’ve never met. The nerve of this guy. Red from embarrassment, Jisung quickly shoots up from his spot in realization this complete stranger is right, he probably looks stupid sitting on the floor rather then one of the many benches perched against the brick walls of the tunnelled station. When Jisung matches the stranger’s height, he realizes that he’s embarrassingly still shorter than him. The stranger raises an eyebrow, before eventually letting out a sigh and turning towards the map. 

Really, Minho thinks he should stop involving himself in other people’s business. 

“Are you going to tell me where you’re trying to get to?”

Jisung suddenly feels shy, and when he tells him the address of this apartment complex, the taller’s mouth falls open slightly, and his gaze meets Jisungs. He looks like he wants to say something, but closes his mouth. Instead of beginning to explain what the hell the words and numbers on the map mean, the boy’s attention jerks to the stop of the subway bus, and moves to get in line as the doors open. He gestures for Jisung to follow him, so without thinking much, Jisung does, forgetting in the moment he has no idea who this person is and could pull a knife on him he wanted to. 

This guy is certainly weird.

Once on the actual subway, Jisung starts to momentarily panic because he has no idea what he’s doing until the stranger explains that they get off at the same spot, and that if he wants to, Jisung can just watch him get off at the fifth stop and follow him. Jisung relaxes slightly, and watches as the boy moves to take a seat on the busily filled bus. Jisung tries not to think about the large amount of people he’s surrounded by, and stands with his hand firmly grasped around one of the straps hanging from the top of the metal roof. 

He decides he absolutely hates the subway. 

When Jisung arrives at his apartment, he’s surprised to notice that the boy and Jisung enter the same building, but neither of them say anything, Jisung, too awkward and shy to say anything, while the stranger looks like he could care less about Jisung’s presence. 

Not much later, Jisung is in front of the door to his new living space. 

Taking a deep breath, praying to god that his roommate is not a dick, Jisung knocks on the door, biting his lip. Not missing a beat, the door is immediately opened, and Jisung is greeted with a boy around his height, with bright orange messily brushed hair, freckles spotted lightly over his face. He looks much more innocent than Jisung thought he might look like. 

“You’re Jisung right?” The boy asks, Jisung slightly jumping at how deep his voice is. Definitely unexpected. For a second, Jisung feels bad that he has completely forgotten what his roommate’s name is. Instead, Jisung only nods, eyes glancing around the room, just wanting to lay down already. He probably should’ve greeted himself, when Jisung looks back on it. He hopes he doesn’t seem rude, but Jisung is too awkward and shy to do so, especially right now, when his whole day consisted of interacting with too many complete strangers for comfort. Jisung just wants to rest down on his bed, comfortable, and cuddling his stuffed animals. He flushes a little, remembering he has them, and that his roommate will most likely see them eventually. Jisung hopes he’s not the type to judge or think he’s weird. 

So Jisung doesn’t interact much with his new roommate when they first meet, still struggling to think of what the hell his name was when he applied for this apartment. It started with an ‘F’ or something, a foreigner name. Hopefully Jisung will pick up on his name soon, otherwise that would be embarrassing having to ask him what his name is.

When Jisung is settled inside, his roommate going to his own bedroom, he notices the apartment is certainly much nicer than Jisung thought it would be, considering it wasn’t as expensive as other places he was offered. The walls are pastily white and thin, and Jisung hopes that his neighbors won’t be too loud as he can tell that he is going to definitely be hearing unwanted noise from whoever lives between them, considering how fragile the walls are.

The interior is nice and cosy, not too clean and not too messy, which Jisung is happy for. If his roommate was a neat freak, he’d definitely annoy the shit out of them with his tendency to leave his belongings sprawled wherever he left them. Eventually Jisung finds what he assumes is his room, by the amount of unopened cardboard boxes packed full of all his belongings, inside of it. Too tired from his long day of panicking and being surrounded by people, instead of unpacking his items, Jisung throws his bag on the floor and lays on a mattress in the center of the small untidied room. 

This is what he wanted. He’s made it, his first class as a music major, which he’s been dreaming about all his life, begins tomorrow morning. Jisung smiles to himself, curling up into a small ball and starts to truly relax. He’s going to be happy now, he’s going to finally study something he’s interested in after years of being a quiet student, studying subjects he doesn’t care about. Jisung giggles a little to himself, maybe he’ll finally get a girlfriend too. A nice, hot girlfriend that will prove to everyone that he’s not the same person he used to be. A loser, who has silly dreams of making his way through life studying music. Yeah, he’s going to prove to everyone just how talented he is. He’s worked hard all his life, and Jisung knows he’s good at rapping and making music, in fact he’s sure of it. 

When the day ends, it’s quiet. Nothing can be heard that night except Jisung’s thoughts, buzzing spontaneously inside of his head. Despite his various amounts of thoughts, Jisung barely considers anything about the boy he met at the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter was a little boring and short, but chapter two will hopefully be more fun to read and will clear up some details about the characters :)
> 
> also, i apologize if there's any inaccuracies haha


	3. 제 2 장

Unlike most days, Minho doesn’t wake up early this time.

The previous one was of his more exhausting days. He had spent the whole morning to afternoon at the studio, practicing for his upcoming dance exams, quickening and perfecting his moves, more powerful than he usually practices. Which he then ended on the treadmill for extra exercise to improve his core endurance. So naturally, the day nears end with the sun starting to set, darkening the studio, it indicates he would soon have to leave so the next group of people could practice. Satisfied with his work, but not so much with the very unflattering and gross sweat soaking his shirt that he would have to walk home in, Minho heads to the all-so familiar Seoul station. 

Nothing really interesting was supposed to happen that day, in fact he wouldn’t even consider it eventful at the time. He treads home in the dusky rise of the evening, pulling his hoodie over his head, earbuds blasting deafening music when he slides past the gate intervals of the underground tunnel, and into the cold, concreted station where people wait in line at the foot of the buses coming and going on the cleanly polished metal trail tracks. 

Minho rarely takes the subway, but today he didn’t feel like walking home. After all, his dance studio is pretty far from his apartment, much to his dislike. Regardless, he’s gone on one hundreds of times, so it wasn’t anything to worry about. 

So the day wasn’t eventful. Interesting, maybe, as when Minho was about to enter a cluster of people in line, he noticed a small figure unmoving from in front of one of the many station maps of Seoul. Minho doesn’t know exactly why the boy caught his eye; all he can see is the back of his head, and his baggy clothes, so there’s really nothing special about him that made Minho hesitate. He’s about to look away, until he notices a shift in the boy’s movement, slumping exasperatedly, and eventually dropping to the ground. Minho scoffs a little in amusement, as the boy starts mumbling to himself, draped in large amounts of fabric that is too big for his small frame. 

He doesn’t know why, but Minho decides to watch the small boy, even though said boy is probably not much shorter than Minho, as he waits for the bus to come swerving across the underground tracks. He finds the boy’s exaggerated movements amusing, as he picks up a paper pamphlet of the map, scanning it more intensely now. After a little while, Minho begins to feel a little pitiful for the boy. 

Is he lost or something? He doesn’t know what his face looks like, can’t see his expressions, so he has no idea what’s going on in his head. Eventually feeling guilty for watching him, he decides to risk it. With a sigh, he takes a hesitant step towards the boy in an attempt to approach him. Who knows, maybe this boy is actually lost, which might be a little surprising, considering the maps aren’t that difficult to read, and maneuvering around the station isn’t that complicated. Unless he’s never been in this kind of place before, which is what is most likely.

The encounter isn’t anything memorable. Minho finds out the boy is, indeed, lost and very much confused. Definitely not from here, Minho assumes. 

He does get a good look at his face though, and Minho has to admit it’s fitting to the small frame of the boy. He can’t explain it, but the innocent big eyes and round cheeks, oddly suit him. He looks about Minho’s age, probably younger. Minho knows for sure he’s never seen this boy around, which shouldn’t be surprising since Seoul is huge, even if Minho knows a lot of people. He doesn’t look at him in detail, in fact, doesn’t really care to. Simply, Minho decides why not be a good person and help him a little?

Looking back, he probably came off too strong. Actually yeah, he definitely did. With a groan, Minho remembers the events from yesterday while on his way to class. He lets out a scoff, not sure if he’s more annoyed that some random kid is consuming his morning thoughts, or at the fact he behaved really unusually yesterday. Yeah, he completely let some random stranger follow him around instead of telling him where to go, you know, like a normal person. A normal person who shouldn’t care about random street boys. Whatever, it’s not a big deal. 

So Minho’s thoughts drift elsewhere, as he walks with his hands in his pockets, on his way to classes, only a few blocks away from his university. The morning is nice for once, not frigid and cold like it usually is in in the fall, but instead somewhat warm, at least warm enough that Minho doesn’t have to whine about it. Sure, Seoul is busy like always, but the busying atmosphere is easily blocked out by the sound of his earbuds playing music. It’s relaxing, and Minho can certainly appreciate that. Nothing can interrupt his peace, as he walks lightly through the streets, getting lost in thoughts of his dance exams and practice later tonight. 

That’s when Minho encounters him for the second time. 

It shouldn’t surprise him really, considering they live in the same building, so Minho was bound to see the boy again, one way or another. 

There he is, the small boy from the station. He’s not hard to spot, his unusual sense of style and lean frame instantly giving him away, along with the bright red headphones perched around his head. He’s not far away, crossing a busy street, looking terrified, bumping past multiple passerbys. The boy mumbles quick apologies, which Minho wouldn’t have known the last part if it weren’t for the smaller, staring at his feet treading the ground, stumbling directly into Minho’s side. 

It’s a small brush to his shoulder really. The boy’s weight doesn’t startle Minho much, instead Minho is more concerned if the boy has gotten hurt. 

“Mm sorry” the boy mumbles, but when the curious smaller lifts his head and reaches eye contact, Minho freezes for a second. 

This is awkward. 

“Oh! It’s you!” 

Minho just wants to nod him off and keep walking in the direction of his campus- which is exactly what he does until after a few seconds, he stops.

The boy is following him. Again. 

Minho raises his eyebrows, glancing at the boy. Who also seems as confused as Minho.

“Do you need something?” Minho grumbles, not trying to be rude at all, just wanting some peace and solitude to himself.

The boy fumbles a little with his fingers and looks down at his feet. Minho notices how round his cheeks are, sort of reminding him of a hamster. Because from the angle of which the boy is looking down, his cheeks are still prominent and squishy looking. Like dumplings. He sort of has a baby face, Minho decides. 

“Uh- no, I uh, shit- I’m just trying to get to class,” the boy nervously musters out, scratching his nape, pushing down the hair on the back of his head. Minho thinks for a second how small this boy looks, once again wearing baggy clothes, with a white beanie covering his shaggy blonde hair. Minho realizes that his previous assumptions were correct, the boy is definitely shorter than him, to Minho’s relief, considering Minho has always been on the shorter side as well. 

“Oh. Are you a highschool student or something? Because the highschool is in the other direction.” Minho suppresses a giggle, purposely messing with the boy. 

At that, the boy whips his head up, eyebrows furrowed, immediately replying back. “Yah! I’m a college student!” he exaggerates almost in a whine-like tone, words spilling out of his mouth loud, in contrast to the words that were previously spoken, that it slightly startles Minho. 

Weird. But Minho can’t deny that it was a little funny, seeing the boy’s face scrunch up, in some sort of display of annoyance. 

Minho has rarely met anyone who’s reacted like that after just meeting them. He’s glad for it, making the awkwardness lift, until Jisung seems to notice how uncharastically loud his response was, considering the previous times they’ve met Jisung was quiet and nervous, because he clasps his hands over his mouth on instinct to Minho's quiet stare. 

“Uh sorry-”

“So which university?” Minho interrupts, with a small smile. Maybe this boy will be kinda cool. Well, he certainly hopes so, as Minho learns they go to the same university, and share some of the same classes. There’s potential this boy could be a friend. It’s weird but, even after only a few sentences shared between them, Minho doesn’t feel awkward. It feels natural, even if the boy is still a little shy, but Minho thinks it’s kinda funny. 

After a little while, Minho notices they’ve been walking together to their campus. 

“Do you need a friend?” Minho asks with a sigh, speaking nonchalantly. The boy quirks his head very slightly, mouth popping an ‘o’ shape. His blonde locks falling in front of his eyes as he stares at Minho, gears turning in his head, what he’s thinking, Minho isn’t sure. There’s a quick beat of silence. 

Fuck, maybe Minho came off too strong.

Jisung’s never had many friends. Has always been bad at making them. It took awhile for Jisung to even get close to anyone, and he’s never been asked by someone if they want to be friends. It’s weird. Now in college, when those phrases have long become unused, only being said by young elementary schoolers, he’s being asked by someone who Jisung decides is incredibly attractive. 

With long eyelashes, and a small sharp face, he’s probably someone who is popular, as a face like that, Jisung’s seen in dramas, usually like a main protagonist or something with multiple pretty girls chasing after him. Jisung’s never been friends with popular kids, not someone like this boy. In fact that’s probably why Jisung was a bit nervous talking to him. Jisung didn’t say much more than a few sentences at the station, too scared to get a good look at his face. Jisung can’t stand attractive boys. They piss him off, they’re always high and mighty, boasting about all the girls they can pull. They’re liked by everyone. They have it easy, they don’t even have to try. Everything just gets handed to attractive people, for simply, being attractive. Not like Jisung, who’s never had anything handed to him like that. Has never had a girlfriend, because he’s too quiet and average looking. If he were attractive and quiet, Jisung thinks he definitely would’ve had a girlfriend by now. 

Jisung can’t stand good looking people. That’s probably why Jisung’s been pretty aggressive in his responses when speaking to this boy. 

Oh right. This boy who he doesn’t know the name of. 

“I don’t even know your name.” Jisung says, instead of answering the boy’s question. The other boy shrugs, letting out a small huff. His voice, Jisung decides, is very light and soft, in contrast to his sharp features. But it’s also kinda fitting. 

“It’s nothing special. Lee Minho.”

Jisung lifts the corner of his mouth into a tiny smile. It suits him, even if he’s known a few Minho’s in the past.

Lee Minho.

“Han Jisung.” Jisung sputters out, even though he wasn’t asked in return. 

Minho’s classes are long. Yeah, he fucking hates college, he’d rather be hanging out with his friends at a party, or working out at the studio, but instead, here he is, sitting bored in an uncomfortable metal seat. It’s when lunch break finally comes around that Minho can relax. Heading to the largely built cafeteria, Minho notices a short boy sitting curled up alone on one of the numerous cafeteria tables. He’s hunched over the table, hugging his knees, with bright red headphones around his neck, staring at a bunch of crumpled up pieces of paper. He can’t help but notice the roundness of his cheeks even from looking at the smaller from behind. 

For some reason, the scene is unusually soft. 

Minho can’t help the pitiful smile that appears on his face. Jisung is intriguing to him. Intriguing enough, Minho plops down beside him on the cafeteria bench, surprising the squirrel-like boy next to him who slightly jumps in his seat at the sudden movement. He whips his head at the noise, big eyes meeting Minho’s and then visibly relaxes. 

They don’t say much, and strangely, it’s a mutual feeling that they don’t need to. Jisung goes back to staring intensely at one of the many scribbled papers that’s an excuse of words. Minho doesn’t really read much, but he understands that it’s some form of poetry. Maybe song lyrics? It would make sense why Jisung is listening to a soft instrumental that Minho hears directly into his left ear. Minho doesn’t say much, just enjoys watching Jisung scribble out words on a paper and shift a little, conscious that Minho is watching him. 

Then Minho gets a buzzing notification from his phone located in his back pocket. Reaching to his phone, he notices he’s been getting a spam of texts from his friend Changbin. With a quiet whine, he unlocks his phone. That’s when he remembers he was supposed to be eating outside today with his friends for lunch. 

Minho looks at the boy beside him, focused on the sheets in front of him. He really shouldn’t give a shit about this random kid, but he feels a little bad just leaving him here alone. 

“Are you waiting on anyone?” Minho asks the boy, who doesn’t bother looking up from where his hand is moving across the paper, writing quick messy words. 

“I’m not sure what you mean.” He responds after a beat of hesitance. Minho shifts his weight away from the boy, leaning his elbow on the table, eyes rolling up in annoyance of having to elaborate. 

“I mean- you know what,” Minho sighs, not sure of why he’s taking interest in his junior who’s too shy to even speak to him, much less look at him. “Do you want to eat lunch with me and my friends?” 

Jisung bites his lip nervously, now turning to look at Minho, his gaze not quite reaching Minho’s eyes. Right, friends. Friends, which have always been hard to make. Jisung is not good at approaching strangers and talking to them. He overthinks too much, and unwanted words tend to spill out of his mouth before he even thinks of what he’s saying. 

The truth is, Jisung loves talking to people and joking around.

People he is close to. He can’t carry conversations with people he’s just met, and now Minho, a person he’s just met, wants Jisung to hang out with strangers? Then again. Jisung doesn’t exactly have many friends at the moment, he’s not the type to make them, or ask people to hang out with him. Now, someone is.

Not sure what to say, Jisung just stares at Minho, insecurity building up inside of him. It shouldn’t be that serious. He should just decline or take the risk of embarrassing himself and just go along with him. Minho looks at him quizzically. 

For a second, Minho thinks he understands. He’s not an intuitive person, but based on Jisung’s shyness and lack of engaging in their short previous conversations together, he realizes he probably was a little too bold. Again. Minho should probably just let Jisung be, he’s clearly busy anyway, working on what he assumes is schoolwork. But again, Minho can’t help but feel a little guilty just leaving him alone like some sort of kicked puppy. 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to, but my friends won’t bite.” Minho says gently, trying not to overwhelm the smaller this time. 

Jisung hesitates, before he breathes in and exhales, glancing down at his knees, as he shifts to a cross legged posture on the long metal bench seat. “No it’s okay, I’ll come,” Jisung says hesitantly, still a little confused why Minho, who he barely still considers a friend, cares so much about whether or not he sits alone. 

Then again, Minho also refused to leave him sitting alone at the station. But why does he care? 

Jisung is a little frustrated he can’t figure him out, but regardless, now he’s following Minho quietly yet again, as he leads him out of the cafeteria, and into the open air and bright green grass sloped on a slight hill outside of the campus building. It’s the courtyard, which Jisung has yet to explore much. Everything here is still very new to him, he barely knows anyone here too, which doesn’t help. His childhood friend, Yena, still hasn’t bothered to meet up with him or text him back. 

Fuck, everything is just so frustrating. 

When Minho's eyes land on a small gathering of people by the side of the building, underneath a large tree that brings a shadow directly onto them, Minho waves casually as he approaches the group. 

One of his friends, Jeongin, who is in Jisung’s year, notices the new stranger peeking out timidly from behind Minho. Minho hopes Jisung doesn’t feel too awkward, but when he turns to introduce the group to Jisung, meeting the latter’s face, who is shifting his eyes quickly across his friend’s faces, before nervously playing with his beanie, Minho realizes he probably is. 

Only a few moments pass in silence. 

“So who’s he?” Chan smiles warmly at Jisung, before looking back to reach Minho’s face. Jisung shifts his weight awkwardly. 

“Ah, well I met him yesterday on my way home from the studio,” Minho plops down on the grass next to Chan, Jisung not sure where to sit, “Then we found out we go to the same university…” Minho drifts off and pauses, doesn’t know how to quite explain that he just found the boy ‘cool’ enough to introduce him to his friends. Minho feels stupid. There’s a small moment of silence between Minho and Chan, Jisung awkwardly quiet beside them. 

Somehow, Minho hears an unfamiliar laugh, turning his head behind him to see that Jisung is now talking to Jeongin, sure a little awkwardly, but by the looks of it, Jisung made a joke, and now Jeongin and Jisung are making small little snickers before Jisung falls silent again, avoiding looking at the other’s faces. Minho is not sure exactly how that happened, but now Jisung is plopping down next to Minho, a little hesitant, but it’s something. 

“Yeah this total stranger just asked me if I wanted to meet his friends,” Jisung smirks, an uncharastically mischievous smile forming on his lips. He reaches Chan’s face, a little unsure, testing the waters.

“I dunno why I followed him, he could’ve easily killed me.” Jisung shrugs, glancing down at his feet a little nervously, hoping he didn’t go too far with joking around, but Jisung can’t help the words that roll off his tongue. 

Come to think of it, Minho had two opportunities to murder or kidnap Jisung if he wanted to. Jisung cringes at that, blaming his naivety that made him follow the fromer stranger. 

Chan seems to give a lighthearted scoff at that, and then punching Minho playfully in the arm, who at that shoots the dimpled man a death glare. 

“Don’t worry, Minho might be an asshole, but he’s no murderer.” Chan chuckles. 

Jisung just laughs at that, the mood gratefully, getting lighter, the awkward tension lifting. But he’s a little confused at Chan’s words; Minho doesn’t seem like an asshole? In fact, he seems strangely really nice, especially to someone, Jisung, who probably annoyed the hell out of him yesterday, following him around clumsily. He doesn’t know Minho enough yet though, so he probably shouldn’t make assumptions. 

Curiously, Jisung quietly stares at Minho, a little disgusted that he’s attractive. Tall nose bridge, high cheekbones. Maybe Minho isn’t an asshole, but he certainly ignites jealousy from Jisung, especially with the taller’s ability to be so… social. Not only does he look attractive, his personality also seems to be that way, judging by how lightheartedly he interacts with everyone and the large number of friends. Everything Jisung can’t stand, and yet Minho is nice on top of it, so there’s no reason to be pissed off about the older. 

“Took you long enough,” Minho groans, fake annoyed, when his friend Ha Sooyoung, also a dance major, plops down on Minho’s other side, along with a few of her other friends. 

“Shut up, I had to help the professor clean up today,” she complains, pushing her hair out of her face. Sooyoung doesn’t give Minho a second glance, and turns to her friends, ignoring Minho and having her own conversation with a few girls that trailed behind her, now sitting with Sooyoung in a clumsy circle, erupting into laughter every now and then. Minho leans against the ground, pulling his phone out. Boring. 

Then Minho feels an elbow nudge to his side, turning his attention to the person on the other side of him on the grassy hill they’re leaning on. 

“Who’s that?” Jisung asks in a shy whisper, staring at the girl next to Minho.

“Oh, that’s Sooyoung,” Minho says lightly, before faking a disgusted face. “She’s annoying as hell,” he says, playfully, until a “Hey!” from Sooyoung pops out of her mouth. Jisung just stares at her, Minho not sure what’s going on in his head. Jisung looks away, mumbling under his breath, as his ears turn a bright shade of pink. 

“She’s pretty.”

Minho just laughs. “Yeah, you’re not the first one to say that,” Sooyoung beside him, is oblivious to the quiet whispers of hesitation from Jisung, as she laughs against her other friends beside her. Jisung doesn’t respond, probably a little shy. 

Sooyoung is pretty for sure. There’s nothing about her that isn’t, long black hair, symmetrical features, soft skin, skinny frame and delicate curves. Minho really isn’t surprised that Jisung would find her pretty, in fact, it’s a very common thought throughout the campus. There’s even jokes about how some of the women of the university have developed girl crushes on her. But they’re just rumors, which no one could really lie and say there wasn’t some truth to those statements. Sooyoung is stunning, anyone with eyes can see that. In fact there was a short period of time where Minho had thought maybe he liked Sooyoung, until he realized she was too untouchable even for him, maybe mostly because he would feel guilty for even having feelings for his pretty friend, considering they’ve known each other for a long time. So the romantic feelings were brief and superficial, which was also a case for most of Minho’s friends. Almost all of his friends have also admitted to being in love with Ha Sooyoung, so perhaps Minho feels a bit pitiful for Jisung, knowing he’s certainly not the only one to feel that way about Sooyoung. Well, he’ll figure it out soon, not like it matters to Minho anyway. 

Jisung steals glances at Sooyoung for the rest of the time she occupies the space by Minho. 

Thankfully for Jisung, one of Minho’s friends somehow manages to also be the very same guy he’s rooming with. Also thankfully, Jisung has managed to pick up on his name by listening to the conversations shared between the group, which gets rid of the awkwardness of having to ask for it. His name is Felix, and based off of his interactions with the other boys, he seems like a very warm person. He practically radiates sunshine off of him, with large smiles beaming his teeth. 

Good to know his roommate doesn’t seem like an asshole. Jisung probably wouldn’t have forgotten his name if he didn’t have his head stuck in his ass, and busy worrying about other things. But no, Felix was far from a jerk, in fact not intimidating at all aside from his deep voice that will occasionally shock Jisung whenever he speaks out of nowhere. Felix is cute, Jisung learns, clinging onto anyone within hugging distance of him. 

At first, Jisung was a little surprised and uncomfortable when Felix first hugged him, pushing the boy off his side in a shriek, which he regretted when he saw the boy’s face drop into a sad nervous smile. He hadn’t hugged Jisung after that incident, but nothing was really awkward about them besides that. Jisung found Felix a really fun person to talk to, even if his korean was a little incorrect at times. Although Jisung knew a lot of english, to Felix’s delight. Felix easily became a friend of Jisung, and a good roommate, even if they didn’t know each other long. 

The other boys, he doesn’t know enough about to get a real opinion on them. He likes Chan a lot, he’s friendly and they’re in a couple of the same classes, both being music majors. He has a sort of warm, fatherly… or motherly? Feeling to him. Chan seemed to naturally understand Jisung whenever he would make poor verbal choices, or miss social cues. Which Jisung appreciates a lot. He hasn’t known Chan long, but even so he feels like he’s known the older boy enough to trust him. It’s hard to dislike Chan, in fact Jisung thinks it’s impossible, he’s too kind to have any bad thoughts about him. 

Jisung talks to Jeongin as well, finding the youngest in their group a very natural friend. Laughs at Jisung’s jokes, teases him as well, and Jisung can’t say he hates it. 

Then there’s Minho, who still slightly frustrates Jisung.

Of course there’s Minho, who, Jisung learns, is directly above him. He also knows that Minho loves to move around, as he can hear every loud movement he makes from the ceiling of his bedroom, much in contrast to Jisung, a homebody, who would much prefer to not move at all and just be at home working on lyrics. Which wouldn’t be a problem, if the boy above him wasn’t a morning person. Jisung, who prefers to sleep until noon, discovers he absolutely despises waking up to the banging and shuffling of his housemate above him, coexisting as early as 6:30 in the mornings. He can’t ever be angry at Minho, because when they both are fated to meet each other at the front of the building every morning before their classes start, Minho gives Jisung a gentle smile and a “what’s up”, which makes Jisung immediately forget what he was annoyed about as they engage in pointless conversations on their way to classes. 

Minho and Jisung are very similar though, which Jisung learns on each passing day that Jisung encounters Minho, gradually their conversations become more playful, Jisung easing up to him, enjoying Minho’s presence. 

Before Jisung realized it, he had made friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see you next week!! <3


	4. 3 장

It’s amusing really, how Minho seems to click so well with Jisung. This random kid who’s two years younger than him, who he met lost in the city of Seoul, who also happens to go to the same college as him. The same boy that was too scared to look him in the eyes for a solid week. Shy and quiet, is what Minho’s first instinct told him about Jisung, but with more encounters, Minho learns he is far from that. 

Jisung started hanging out with Minho’s friends regularly now, slowly becoming accepted into the group. It was a surprise for everyone really, when Jisung would start yelling and play-fighting once he got comfortable, but that’s what really made him get along with the others. Jisung only has a few classes with Minho, but they would always sit together in each of them.

Sometimes it wasn’t even planned, they just happened to always be sitting next to each other. 

Jisung and Minho became close quickly, which almost came as a shock to the others. Minho isn’t exactly sure what happened to make them get so close, but maybe it’s because their friendship started and flows so naturally. Minho picked up on Jisung’s habit to say anything that comes to mind, and reassured the boy that he didn’t mind. Ever since then, Jisung and Minho have become gradually closer, until they were practically inseparable. 

Jisung, sure, might say something a little insensitive in the spur of the moment, but Minho would understand, and never really got hurt. Minho learned Jisung was a very kind hearted person, which gave him a soft spot for the boy. Jisung didn’t like angering other people, and would get upset at himself if he did. 

Minho knows this is for a fact, as on the rare occasion that he angered Chan by going too far with a joke, Jisung immediately argued back that it wasn’t a big deal until Minho found the boy, 5 minutes later, curled up in his bed crying. Minho wasn’t sure how to comfort him, so he waited patiently by Jisung’s bedroom door were he had overheard his crying until Jisung had calmed down, and immediately attacked him with a hug and distracted him with silly topics and stupid conversation. But it worked, and that’s something Minho didn’t think he had in him. 

Maybe Minho just naturally understands Jisung. It’s unspoken, but they just seem to get each other, without realizing it either. They naturally clicked as friends once Jisung’s shyness grew fader and fader. What was left was an energetic and loud boy, which Minho, maybe two weeks ago, would have never guessed existed beneath the shell of reservation from the younger. 

Of course, Jisung learned about some of Minho’s personality too. With Jisung, Minho felt at ease. They never discussed depressing, deep, political topics. There was a wordless mutual understanding that they didn’t need to. Jisung was easy to joke around with, and had a great sense of humor, which Minho really appreciated about the boy. They would hang out often, usually with friends, or sometimes alone and go to interesting places in the moment. Minho was never really a spontaneous person, but he learned that he liked to surprise Jisung with taking him to restaurants or amusement parks. He loved seeing Jisung’s reactions, and enjoyed hanging out with him. 

But Jisung is a homebody, and Minho is not, so usually they would spend their days together at home, watching a movie together or playing games, in courtesy of Jisung’s comfort.

When Minho took Jisung with him for the first time to his dance practice, he remembers how excited the latter was; asking too many questions, not shutting up about how he’s sure that Minho would be the best dancer there, his shaggy blonde hair swishing with every exaggerated movement. 

When Jisung entered the practice room, Minho almost directly remembers how immediately Jisung became quiet, entering with a nervous, awkward smile. He sat in the corner of the room on the floor, watching Minho the whole time as he worked with his dance crew, teaching the others movements for their routine. Jisung didn’t say a word and instead stared at him intensely, which worried Minho at first, until when his water break came, he remembers Jisung hopping up to him in excitement, a big gummy smile on his face, eyes lighting up.

“Hyung! You were so cool!”

Minho would just cockily respond back with a simple “I know,” or “Obviously,” but maybe he secretly enjoyed the remarks Jisung would give. Like he’d ever admit that though.

Since then it became a regular thing that Minho would take Jisung with him to the studio, which is something he’s never done before. He doesn’t exactly like outsiders watching him practicing, knowing that practice is when he has to make mistakes in his dance to improve on them, but he enjoyed Jisung’s company so he let him stay. Besides, it was hard to say no to Jisung when he would puff up his cheeks and pout, something he didn’t expect at first from the younger, but found it amusing later. 

Minho also enjoyed watching Jisung in his element. 

Sometimes Minho would show up at Jisung’s apartment, with Jisung trying to get him to leave because he had homework and music to work on. Minho would end up staying anyway, because Jisung found it hard to deny the taller. 

Usually Minho would lay on his bed, pretending to be on his phone, but would quietly be stealing glances at the younger strumming his guitar and writing lyrics. Jisung would always refuse to sing in front of Minho, much to the latter’s disappointment. But on the rare occasion, when Jisung was far in his own world of music, he would let out soft hums and inaudible mumbled words. Minho wouldn’t say anything, and would instead appreciate the relaxing sounds from his friend. Minho used to always carefully watch Jisung write his lyrics until the smaller boy noticed him peeking over his shoulder for too long. Jisung would yank the sheets he had written on away from Minho, blocking his view. 

Minho didn’t quite understand why the younger was sensitive about Minho seeing his lyrics, so Minho had one day grabbed them from smaller when Minho was in a particularly playful mood. Long story short, Jisung was shrieking trying to retrieve the lyrics from the older, who just had enough time to read the words written on the page. One short glance, and Minho realized the words were much more personal than he anticipated, and with a pause and widened eyes, he sheepishly handed them back to the younger, feeling bad for invading his privacy. 

They never spoke about what was written on the pages, both pretending the incident never happened, even if something inside of Minho had instantly shattered a little reading the younger’s lyrics. 

Minho and Jisung never used the title “best friends”, but Minho considers Jisung as his best friend anyways. It’s a little weird, considering they haven’t known each other long, and yet Minho feels like he knows Jisung a little too well. He wonders if the latter knows Minho well too, if he considers Minho as his best friend. Maybe it’s better for Minho’s peace of mind if he doesn’t know the answer.

They also learned they have a lot in common, which they wouldn’t have cared to notice if Changbin hadn’t shouted, which was directly into Minho’s ear by the way, “Minho and Jisung have a lot of similarities!” while they were hanging out at Seungmin and Hyunjin’s apartment, which the others agreed with, not pressing the curious subject. 

At that Jisung half pretended to be offended, which Minho just stared at the younger with a slight smile on his face. But when Minho later thought about it, he realized that Changbin might’ve been right. There were obvious similarities like both enjoying bitter iced americanos, being cat people, and their food preferences. If that’s not what Changbin was referring to, then Minho wasn’t sure what the shorter meant. He could care less to find out. 

Jisung was loud. It’s so shocking because he’s only outgoing in their small group, but other than that Jisung is very introverted. He’s not very popular among the students in their university either, too quiet and only preferring to hang out with Minho’s group rather than approach new people. The opposite of Minho really, so he can't understand why his friends find them similar. Minho doesn’t mind talking to new people and can get comfortable with them quickly, enjoys going out and moving around. Jisung avoids talking to strangers as much as possible, and when he does, it takes him a while to talk to them again much less open up and get comfortable. He prefers staying at home and not moving from his bed. 

Minho wouldn’t consider himself popular, but Jisung apparently would. Jisung has recently noticed that Minho has a lot of female friends, and heard numerous girls talking about him, which of course, the boy who lacks no curiosity, brings up to Minho. Minho only looks at him puzzled before letting out a small laugh, and a “It’s not a big deal.”

Well it must be a big deal to Jisung, because over the course of their friendship, Minho also started to notice Jisung’s eyes being drawn to one of Minho’s closest friends, Ha Sooyoung. Minho can’t lie and say it was unexpected either. When Sooyoung started showing up on certain days at the studio that Jisung watches Minho practice in, his eyes began to drift from watching Minho perform, and more to when Sooyoung danced. When Minho began to notice the shift in his behavior whenever the older would take Jisung to his practices, he initially teased the boy for it; despite Jisung’s protests that he did not like Sooyoung, just found her dancing nice. It was no surprise that Jisung became a regular visitor, with the fact that the studio had nice comfy couches that Jisung was allowed to sit on and watch his friends as he worked on his music.

It was nice for Minho, having Jisung there. With all the time spent at the practice studio, Jisung became closer with some of Minho’s crewmates- Hyunjin and Felix, the latter being Jisung’s roommate. Despite Jisung’s forming crush on Sooyoung, and friends he had made, at the end of the day Jisung always cheered Minho on, praised his movements, and clinged to him the most. Jisung enjoyed being surrounded by his friends, so working on his music while sprawled up into a ball on the couch in the corner of the large room was relaxing; peaceful. Jisung would only be able to stay at the studio a little while, before he eventually started leaving early to go home to his guitar and do his work in a more homely environment. 

At first, Minho was a little worried leaving the boy to walk home alone every other day in the dark of the evening, but Jisung would only whine and complain that he’s not a baby and can handle himself. Which Minho would secretly snort at that, recalling the time when Jisung was practically a lost puppy in the large subway of seoul. 

In the time that Minho was with his friends on the dance team, Jisung had also found himself in a small group of music majors to produce his music with and do school projects with. Jisung was naturally getting closer to Chan, and found being his friend relatively easy, especially with their common interest of singing and writing songs. Chan was a music major like Jisung, which made their friendship comfortable. 

When Jisung began opening up to Chan, they became a short lived duo until the older man introduced Changbin, an upperclassmen that challenged Jisung’s skills. Both of them had very similar dreams and interests, which gave Jisung a minor rivalry against Changbin, convincing himself that he was better than the shorter boy (much to Jisung’s happiness that he wasn’t the shortest in the group), until Jisung began seeing the genuine person Changbin was, and how seriously he worked on his projects and assignments with Chan. The prejudice against the older boy didn’t last, and Jisung eventually agreed to forming a trio with him. The boys would often go to Chan’s apartment, where they could and have brainstormed ideas for hours. 

Jisung began finding a friend in this group that Minho had introduced him to, having yet to verbally thank the older boy. 

Minho began noticing a change in his friend. Jisung was becoming less of a prejudiced dick to people, and was more outgoing with the few friends he was comfortable with. Minho also began to notice another unexpected aspect of change in the smaller, which was physical affection. 

The older would have never guessed that Jisung was an affectionate person, especially because the smaller used to always avoid hugs and casual touches until he loosened up to their friend group. At first Minho kinda hated when Jisung became more bold with physical affection. 

Minho strongly dislikes affection, unless he’s the one initiating it. He likes teasing his friends, making them flustered for fun, or just to annoy the shit out of them, but it’s a different story when they do it back, which 90% of the time, his friends never do. But for some reason, Jisung doesn’t care, just tackles the older into a playful hug, which Minho at first would shove Jisung off, until eventually, he let it be. He would let the younger boy lean into his shoulder when he would laugh, and would let the boy sit in his lap as Minho back hugged him.

It was casual, and it would relieve stress from both of them, stress that neither had ever brought up, preferring to sit in comfortable silence of mutual understanding, and that’s simply how it was and would always be. 

In a way, it was nice having a friend like Jisung. Of course Minho was very close to the other people in their little group, having known some of them for as long as 5 years, but with Jisung it was just easy. He never had to worry what to say, never had to question if he was coming off too strong. The little blonde was always there to give Minho careless enthusiasm, and playful gestures. It was relaxing. 

Minho valued each of his friendships very deeply, he was a very thoughtful person which only few of his friends have seen. He cared a lot about people and their antics, which any outsider or peer would question in doubt. 

Minho wasn’t a cold or mean person or anything, he just had a reputation for having a careless aura around him at all times, he would be stared at in skepticism at times too, very rarely though, whenever he would ruthlessly tease his friends. There was that insecurity again; coming off too strong. 

But life is simple and meant to be enjoyed for Minho. Maybe Minho has some repressed depressing thoughts lingering vaguely and untouched in the back of his head at times, but he would prefer to busy himself and not face these feelings, not wanting to worry anyone. Besides, Minho had no reason to feel depressed. He assumes that everyone has those thoughts in the back of their mind, that they aren’t necessarily special or something worth getting worked up about. 

Instead, Minho would hang out with his friends as a distraction, unknowingly the friend mostly always being Jisung. The latter is just so full of energy, Minho can’t help but smile whenever the boy would sometimes barge into his dormitory uninvited, out of breath, exclaiming that he had snacks and demanded a movie night now. 

Jisung might as well fucking live here, as when the boy became closer to Minho, and the taller invited Jisung over for the first time, the smaller boy couldn’t stop being around Minho. It all started out with Minho showing Jisung his cats practically everyday, both gushing about how adorable the small soft animals were, that Minho eventually proposed the idea that Jisung should meet them in person. Jisung was at first a bit hesitant, explaining that he was slightly allergic, but when Minho pouted, and sadly assured him that he understood, Jisung eventually sighed and followed Minho home. I mean, who is Jisung to resist free cute fluffy animals? 

It became an unspoken rule that Jisung could just come over whenever he wanted, sometimes not even telling Minho, just appearing cuddled underneath Minho’s bed covers late at night after his dance practices. Which Minho would coo in amusement when he arrived at the scene, until eventually shoving the younger off the bed in a playful manner. Which, Jisung being a very unmovable person and a heavy sleeper, would refuse to budge, even if it meant he was now curled up in warm blankets on the cold wooden floor. 

Minho valued his other friends too of course, he had been friends with Hyunjin for a very long time, knowing each other back when Minho was a highschooler, and Hyunjin an awkward lanky middle schooler. 

He found it amusing when Jisung and Hyunjin didn’t get along at first, it was never anything serious, but the two would often have petty arguments and meaningless bickers all the time, acting practically like little kids. Minho and Jisung had meaningless childish arguments too, but with Hyunjin it was often, and held more truth to them, rather than for the sake of playfully fighting for fun.

Hyunjin and Jisung were both very emotional people, known for crying the most, so it made sense they would be childish around each other. Other than Hyunjin though, Minho was glad the previously quiet boy was getting along with everyone in their little group. Jisung didn’t seem like an extroverted person either, so it was nice seeing the younger so comfortable and talkative. Another thing that Minho discovered when Jisung became close knit to their group of friends, was his irritating ego. Jisung would never miss an opportunity to boast about himself or his looks, but the older didn’t mind at all, found it amusing really, and would often snicker at Jisung’s little outbursts. It was also fun messing with the boy, challenging the younger’s confidence with Minho’s. 

Minho didn’t like to acknowledge how much he cared about the smaller, it slightly irritated him if he was honest. But he couldn’t help it when the blonde would come running up to him, his shaggy hair bouncing up and down, eyes forming into crescents, dumb shit coming out of his mouth. 

Minho was truly happy like this. Just being surrounded by genuine friends was more than enough for the older boy to be truly satisfied. 

Here he is, Minho is at the studio once again dancing, working hard to ace choreography for a project, when he hears a door open quickly, and a few moments of silence pass before he feels a weight jump at his back, snapping his head around, his eyes are met with the vigorous boy behind him, none other than his best friend. He’s full of energy today, which is pretty normal, but Minho can never get annoyed with it, no matter how tired he is from practice. He dramatically whines in fake pain, startling Jisung before he lets out a giggle at the realisation that Minho is fine. 

“Don’t you have an assignment to work on with Chan and Changbin?” Minho asks, titling his head as he reaches for a towel to wipe off some sweat from his neck. 

Jisung plops down on the floor, hands reaching behind him to lean on as he slumps. He lets out a small pout, meeting Minho’s eyes in exasperation. “We finished early todayyyy,” Jisung whines. “Besides, I wanted to see you.” Jisung adds, a cheeky smile forming. Minho stares at him in a deadpan, eyebrows raising. 

“Are you sure you just didn’t want to see Sooyoung today?” Minho says, half rhetorical, placing a smirk. At that, Jisung’s expression goes flustered, looking down at his lap, denying Minho’s claim immediately. Minho's gaze softens and then plops down next to Jisung. “Sorry to inform you, but it’s just me today.” Minho sighs, glancing around the empty room, which Jisung’s mouth pops open in realization. The room is now completely quiet, music having stopped, just the sound of their voices filling the large studio. On certain rare days, Minho gets an hour to himself alone, which happened to be this day. He still had about 15 minutes left, the older notices, glancing at the watch on his right wrist. 

“Yeah well, that’s why I came,” Minho knows that's a lie, but humors the smaller anyway, now lying completely on the floor, exhausted from his long hour of practice. A small pause. “....Do you want to get something to eat?” Jisung adds, posing a question, while unlocking his phone to check the time. 

“Sure, I’m down.”

“I’ll buy this time,” Jisung responds immediately, already heading towards the door, his bag thrown over his shoulder in a hurry of excitement.

With a groan of having to move from his comfortable spot on the floor to match the younger’s endless energy, Minho stands up as well, gathering his stuff. 

“Sure you will.”

“I will! I remembered my wallet this time, see!” Jisung exclaims, rushing to reach for the item out of his back pocket, Minho just lets out a small laugh. The latter trails to Jisung, exiting the building, now walking side by side onto the sidewalk. Minho doesn’t need to ask where they’re going, knowing Jisung always takes Minho to a specific coffee shop that serves the exact kind of treats and warm drinks the two both like, especially in Jisung’s favor as it also offers his favorite cheesecakes, made exactly how the smaller likes them. 

The two enter the small bakery, Minho greeting the cashier and ordering for them, knowing that Jisung is too shy to do it himself, and would much rather Minho order for him. Not that he can’t order on his own, but Minho insists it’s fine, and it’s now become a habit whenever the two go out together for Minho to order for both of them. It’s also a habit for Minho ending up being the one paying, which again, Minho doesn’t mind. Besides, Minho has much more funds and money in his card than the younger, and he likes treating Jisung as well. Jisung immediately takes a bite of the cake they ordered as soon as it’s given to the boy. Almost like he’s in a hurry, which makes Minho let out a laugh. 

“That hungry?”

“Shut up.”

They sit down at a small table, a window between them. Glancing around, it seems like there’s only a few other people here, mostly college students working on laptops to the soft jazz music playing in the background, and treats placed beside them. The atmosphere is nice- Minho relaxes in his seat, glad for a distraction of school and exercise. He turns his attention to the boy in front of him, who is fumbling in his seat. Only now does Minho notice that Jisung is wearing one of Minho’s sweaters, which in realization, groans, pretending to be annoyed. 

“How’s the project going?” Jisung quietly asks, slurping on his drink. 

“Why the small talk Jisungie?” Minho replies instead, a teasing smile forming on his face. Jisung sighs before taking another sip of his drink. 

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“And you didn’t answer mine.”

They stare at each other for a moment, trying to make the other break first. Jisung furrows his eyebrows. 

“For the record I do not like-”

“Jisungie,” Minho smiles winningly, propping his head on his hand, voice light and teasing. “I didn’t mention anything about your little crush on Sooyoung.” 

Jisung’s cheeks are painted a light pink, before breaking out in stutters and a bashful tone of voice. 

“And I didn’t mention Sooyoung!” He manages out, now in impulse mode. 

He’s fumbling with the hem of Minho’s sweater, the sweaters paws falling below his hands so only the tips of his fingers are visible. Minho winces, hoping the loose string doesn’t end up tearing the item. 

“Judging by your current and previous reactions to her name,” Minho teases, “It’s definitely Sooyoung.” 

At that, Jisung huffs, as he crosses his arms, head turning to avoid Minho’s gaze, and the latter lets out a small light hearted giggle. 

“Look man- I came to eat cheesecake not get attacked.” he gives up, shoving a bite of treat into his mouth, cheeks puffing up as he continues to stuff his mouth of food in cope of his flustered feelings. 

“You asked to eat with me, what did you expect,” Minho laughs “Especially with the way you’ve been acting around her recently.”

“I do not have a crush on her!” 

“Right, and I hate cats.” 

“Hyunggg.” Jisung whines, a pout on his lips, as he lowers his head to the table, now placed resting in his arms. Minho sighs, giving Jisung a break and switching the subject, sparing the smaller from more embarrassment. 

It’s a bit odd, eating at a coffee shop with their espressos and chocolate treats at 10pm, when the outside is cold and the workers are just barely off their shift, but it works, it’s exactly them. He listens to Jisung ramble on about his day, both forgetting about their little conversation of Sooyoung, and instead listens to the smaller tell Minho how his shitty professor made him apologize to the whole class for being late, and how embarrassed he was. Minho doesn’t talk much about his day, doubting that Jisung noticed, but he prefers it that way. He loves listening to the younger, and teasing him. When the clock is half past 10, the younger boy gets sleepy, ironically enough, considering he just shoved coffee and sugary sweets into his mouth. Minho smiles warmly at him. 

He is so lucky to have Jisung as his best friend. 

Of course, in the end, Minho is the one that pays for their small meal, their time at the coffee shop mostly being spent talking to each other rather than eating. He doesn’t mind at all, he usually ends up paying either way, not being the type to care about the money spent, more about the quality spent. He thanks the workers for allowing them to stay, and lightly shakes Jisung to wake him up, who has his head down on the table in his arms. He sleepily rubs his eyes and gets up, smiling like a child at Minho. 

Minho scoffs, “Dork.”

The rest of the night is spent with Minho taking a sleepy Jisung home to their building. The latter curling into his shoulder, eyes half lidded. When the younger assures Minho that he’s safe now, will get to bed and wake up early for classes tomorrow at the front of the blonde’s dorm, Minho can relax and head for his own living area. Minho gets undressed and slips into a loose t-shirt, lazily brushing his teeth before heading to his bed. Doongie, one of his cats, hops next to him, curling up on one of his pillows sprawled out. Minho turns off the lights and lays on his mattress, staring at the ceiling. 

He can’t sleep tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see you next week!! :)


	5. 4 장

It’s been several weeks since Jisung has put himself into Minho’s friend group, which Minho is honestly quite glad for. Before the younger had introduced himself awkwardly, when he was still a quiet, shy freshman-- the group wasn’t really formed. I mean sure, they were all friends and such, and they would all meet up in the same spot after classes along with other casual school friends that would be invited by Chan, being the natural extrovert he is, or invite themselves in to get closer to Hyunjin and Minho, who were popular among the campus. 

At the time, no one thought much of the small introverted boy, the group being luckily very kind accepted him quickly, perhaps mostly to make him feel less alone since he didn’t seem to have friends at the university yet, but as time passed, their group became more defined and exclusive to others.

Jisung was their main source of energy and brought out conversation the most from the others. Previously it had been Chan and Felix, but when Jisung found himself going well with the others, it was like something wordlessly  _ clicked.  _

The group that was just causal friends, who would typically prefer to initiate light hearted conversation or sit in a mutual silence, had now gradually formed into a group of eight- Chan, Changbin and Minho being second and third years, and Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix, Seungmin, and Jeongin being first years. 

It was an odd combination of people, but for some reason it fit. 

It was unexpected really, but something about Jisung’s energy had really brought them together. It didn’t really make sense, it’s not like Jisung himself had brought them together, or rather he wordlessly inspired the others to. 

Without realizing it, the eight had exchanged phone numbers and began texting daily. Usually stupid shit, but it was perfect that way. It was rarely awkward, it was nice and light hearted. 

Sometimes Minho wonders if the oblivious blonde knows the effect he had on them. 

Honestly speaking, he’s not even sure it was Jisung’s doing. It was rationally just coincidence, that something had shifted and here they are, sprawled out in their normal spot after classes in the campus courtyard.

They’re laying on the grass like they have been since before they met Jisung, but recently it’s been different. Warmer, more open. The group has only been close like this for roughly a month. 

It looks like they’ve been friends for much longer as well, to outsiders, considering they have also began being physically affectionate. 

For proof, Hyunjin is lying sideways on the grass, head resting on Jeongin’s lap, as his phone is raised above his face in the air, half blocking the sun in his eyes, as he scrolls through it. 

Technically their usual spot behind the campus building on the grass hill is against the college rules, there’s other spots they’re allowed to be, but generally being on the grass is prohibited. Which usually results in some Janitor yelling at them to move, which the boys do reluctantly, switching to sit at outside benches on the pavement of the campus courtyard. 

Of course they always go back to their spot eventually, as the professors generally could care less, and the only authority figures that get angry are usually Janitors and outside workers trying to do their job.

The others are pretty respectable and listen to the yelled instructions by workers to move, but Minho could care less. Even without the rest of the group there, he’ll go back to that spot to lay by himself in quiet, partly because he enjoys pissing off old people, and partly because he likes that particular spot too much. It’s right underneath the perfect tree that shades half the area, and it has a great view of the whole campus and city life. 

Jisung is also a rebellious type, much to Minho’s happiness. Much more shy and less bold in front of people he doesn’t know, but the younger loves to piss people off and do his own thing. The group dubbing them as partners in crime, almost literally (but in a lame way). 

So whenever the group gets fed up of Minho’s persuasion of sitting in their spot and instead goes to either someone’s apartment or the benched tables in the front of the building that is allowed to be occupied, Jisung will quietly follow Minho instead, and the two will lie together behind the prohibited space. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Like today, they lay in silence after their classes, the rest of their group, disapproving of their recklessness. 

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Chan had stated firmly, shaking his head, which was retaliated with a childish wine from Jisung, until it was just the two of them. 

Really, the day was nice out. It had made classes unbearable, and Minho practically itched to be outside, or do something the entire time he was stuck inside of the building, listening to random professors give draining lectures. Minho only has Jisung in a few of his classes, which also made Minho frustrated. He had barely got energy today, and he desperately wanted to do something fun. 

It wasn’t long until eventually Minho and Jisung knew they would have to leave, Minho having his usual practice at the studio a few blocks away from the campus, and Jisung having to meet up with Chan and Changbin today to continue a project for extra credit they chose to do for their music course. 

And when it came the time that both of their work was nearing its end, and they had time to themselves, Minho found them together yet again. 

It really was like they were inseparable, which had been loudly stated by Chan multiple times.

Packing up his things from after his time at the studio, he sends Jisung a quick text before placing his phone down and grabbing a water bottle. Not even a second later, as soon as Minho places his phone down, he gets a response from Jisung-- his phone lighting up and buzzing into hand. He smiles to himself. Jisung was a quick responder, which the older appreciates. But a realization hit him a moment later after his brief period of internal appreciation to the younger, turning his phone on and narrowing his eyes as he sent a reply. The little shit should be working, not on his phone. 

“Hyung get off your phone.” Interrupted from his thoughts, he looks towards the voice, noticing that Hyunjin is now done with his water break, and the others are waiting for Minho so they can continue their routine. Ironically, Minho is the one to get scolded for being on his phone. 

Really he could’ve blamed it on Jisung spamming his text messages, but he doesn’t, joining the rest of the team to finish a few moves before they go home. 

It’s almost like a tradition at this point, Minho muses, for the two of them to meet up after their schedules whenever they’re not together, at Minho’s apartment. The younger might as well live there at this point, intruding and sprawling himself all over Minho’s furniture uninvited. The younger should consider himself lucky, as Chan had pointed out, because if anyone else walked into his apartment uninvited, making a mess, he would’ve killed them. Yet for some reason, whenever Minho unlocks the metal door to his apartment and is met with Jisung jumping at him in a tight hug, his hair bouncing up and down, greeting him before he runs back to his previous spot on Minho’s couch with his cats, he can’t get mad. 

Jisung always gets home first too, since Chan and Changbin like to work either in Chan’s dormitory, or one of the Cafe’s in the city-- both of which are fairly close to their apartment complex.

They live in the same building, and yet Jisung would prefer surprising Minho then going to his own room which is a floor below where Minho lives in the large building they share. 

Tonight is no different, when Minho arrives home, but he’s instead greeted with a sleepy Sungie on his living room couch, rather than an energetic one that tackles him at the door and tells him about his day. Both are amusing, but it’s nice to see Jisung get some sleep, especially since the younger tends to overwork himself.

Minho smiles at the sight, and for a second he stares at his friend, cheeks puffed, eyes shut closed. He’s curled up into a ball, hugging his knees between a pillow, with a blanket wrapped lazily around his small body. Minho shuffles over to where Jisung is resting, throwing his bags and jacket on a cushioned chair in his small living room. With a mischievous grin, he stares at the boy for a second, now that he’s up close, before shoving him off the couch and onto the carpeted floor. A loud yelp sounds from the younger boy, waking him. 

The smaller rubs his eyes before glancing up at Minho, eyes narrowing sleepily, and mouth forming into a pout when he recognizes who just interrupted his sleep. The older lets out a laugh before continuously apologizing when Jisung throws weak punches at the boy above him, eyes fake glaring. 

“Yah! You’re so mean!”

The blonde yells, his loud voice sounding throughout the room. Pushing himself off the ground now, he throws the blanket he had cuddled up in, on the couch as he collapses into a sitting posture next to Minho. 

“Sorry, sorry, I know,” Minho giggles, rubbing the back of his head, hand brushing over his nape. 

“You should have seen your face, you were drooling everywhere.” he taunts, exaggerating Jisung’s sleeping expression. The younger shoots a quick ‘was not!’, before giving up to Minho’s teasing. He yawns quietly, still tired from his interrupted nap. 

Then he remembers— Jisung has spent so much time on his school work, he’s barely had enough time to catch up on sleep recently. Minho would have been pissed if someone woke him up when finally taking a nap after hours of working restlessly. He mentally kicks himself, now looking at the boy with a frown. He has eyebags on his face, and he looks like shit. He sighs, really he should stop caring so much about this small blonde haired boy. 

“Hey.” he breathes, staring at the shorter, who’s scrolling tiredly on his phone on Minho’s couch. 

“Hey.” 

“Let’s go somewhere tonight.” Minho blinks, as he picks up his jacket and grabs his wallet out from his bag, shoving it into the pocket of his light grey sweatpants that are still hot from his workout nearly an hour ago. 

“What? Where? It’s like 11pm, Min.” The younger boy cocks his head ever so slightly, looking up from his phone. 

“It’s a surprise.”

“Oh you’re just full of surprises today.” Jisung huffs, suggesting when five minutes ago, Minho had shoved him off his couch in the middle of his quiet nap. 

Minho just hums, shoving his arms into the sleeves of his jacket, now turning to grab some extra change from the counter. Jisung follows Minho reluctantly, still a little pouty from his lack of sleep.

He joins Minho at the exit of his apartment door, not bothering to find out where exactly they’re going, just trusting Minho as they walk out into the hallway, and reaching the bottom of the complex, where they leave the building and enter onto the cold sidewalk. 

It's almost pitch black, the outside only being lit up by street lamps and city lights. It’s quieter, still loud with the fainter sound of cars honking and whipping past them on the street, but still less chaotic then it is during the day. 

They walk together more quietly than usual, the shorter boy usually being very talkative. Minho assumes it’s because Jisung is tired, his guess being proven correct when Jisung lets out another yawn, putting in effort in each step to shuffle himself to wherever the hell Minho is leading him to. 

Really, Jisung trusts Minho too much. 

The air is cold, gusts of wind whipping past the two boys, making Jisung shiver slightly. They don’t walk for long though, when they reach a small corner store, one that the two would often spend time at together. Jisung opens his mouth slightly, an “oh.” sound leaving his lips, as they step into the store. They don’t say much, grabbing instant ramens off the shelves, Jisung taking a few candy bars as well. Minho grabs two small milk teas before taking the items out of Jisung’s hands and shoving them all onto the counter, reaching for his wallet to pay for their food. 

  
  
  
  
  


“I should have known.” Jisung smiles softly, a little more awake now, after having walked with Minho a few blocks. 

“Hm?” Minho asks, his mouth stuffed with one of the chocolate bars Jisung had generously offered him (even if Minho had been the one to pay for it). The two are now sitting outside the store on a bench built onto the sidewalk. Jisung takes a sip from one of the milk teas. 

“You always take me to get late night snacks with you,” Jisung giggles quietly, eyes barely open, as his sleepiness comes back. He really should’ve slept the night before, Minho wants to scold. 

“Not always.”

“Yes always, even Chan has said that you spend more time with me than anyone else,” Jisung says, his voice getting more loud now, a teasing smile over his face. Jisung stares at his feet and fumbles with the oversized jacket that falls too largely over his small frame. Minho glances at the boy in thought, not saying anything for a moment. Dangerous words threaten to leave his mouth, until without thinking, they do. 

“That’s because you’re my best friend.” 

Minho winces at the cringey statement. 

The two have never really used that phrase before to describe their friendship. The rest of the group had agreed that they were definitely the closest, and even outsiders could see they were, but Minho never wanted to feel clingy for using it. 

“Oh,” Jisung stares at Minho, his teasing smile dropping slightly before he lets out a low giggle. 

“I guess that makes sense then.” 

They don’t talk much, which was pretty unusual. In fact they eat in silence for a little, Jisung being too sleepy to say much. The only sound that can be heard is of cars racing down the streets, and distant honking of traffic. Beside that, and a few people in the corner store, it’s just them. It’s oddly comforting, the loneliness of the typically busy streets and sidewalks. No stress of schoolwork, just the feeling of being small in the largely populated city. 

Jisung, who is sitting behind him, lets out a quiet yawn, barely audible, but it interrupts their silence. He’s finished his milk tea, and it’s sitting empty beside him on the bench. His head bobs down in defeat to the lack of energy caused by his tiredness. 

Minho feels him jump a little when a sudden weight falls onto his shoulder. He doesn’t need to look to know what that weight is, but he glances anyway out of impulse. A mop of fluffy blonde hair covers his jacketed shoulder, and he can feel the quiet breathing from the younger. Minho wants to shove him off like he usually does, but remembering how sleepy the shorter has been recently, makes Minho guilty. 

He smiles to himself at the smaller boy. He’s not able to see his facial features at this angle, but he knows if he could, Jisung’s cheeks would be puffed up, mouth parted. Jisung relaxes against Minho’s shoulder, suggesting that he’s fallen asleep. The older gives a half-annoyed sigh, but doesn’t make an effort to move either of them. He looks at the empty plastic drinks of milk tea sitting on the ground, and picks them up-- shoving them into a spare grocery bag along with over trash quickly, careful to not awake the boy next to him. 

They sit there for a little while, Minho not sure what to do, knowing he has to take them home soon before Minho falls asleep as well, the warm touch on his shoulder making him oddly comfortable. He turns his head to the smaller and begins to shake him off his shoulder lightly, feeling a little guilty about waking him. Jisung doesn’t budge, curling into Minho’s neck. 

“What?” Jisung finally mumbles to indicate he’s awake, his voice low and still sleepy, unaware that the figure he’s lying into is Minho. 

“You idiot, you fell asleep.”

Jisung raises his head, eyes widened through the tiredness that wants him to close them again. He moves to face Minho, who’s now staring at the smaller with an annoyed look. Finally aware of what just happened, Jisung giggles softly, lips into a goofy smile. 

“Sorry hyung, you just felt so warm.”

A cocky retort is on the tip of the older’s tongue, something like ‘probably because i’m so hot’, but it doesn’t leave his lips like he wants it to. He blames it on his lack of energy, too tired to function. Instead of replying how he wants to, the older looks away and mumbles a “mhm” before picking up their grocery bags, and pulling them onto his arm to get ready to walk home. 

  
  


Maybe a late night snack was a bad idea today. 

  
  


After all, they were both very tired, but Minho decided stupidly that he was still hungry, and no exhaustion would stop him from enjoying a milk tea with Jisung at nearly midnight. 

When Jisung picks himself off the ground, they begin to head back to their apartments, Minho carrying all of the grocery bags without a second thought. Jisung can barely keep his head up, the younger rubbing his eyes before they drop at his sides in defeat. Guilt washes over Minho, as he feels bad for forcing the younger to come out with him to the store late at night instead of getting sleep for classes tomorrow. Normally Jisung and Minho stay up late either way, the two sharing the trait of not being able to rest without doing something productive before they sleep, which leads them to going on spontaneous trips to the corner store for late night snacks, or falling asleep watching a movie together. 

  
  


The goal was to get Jisung home quickly and safely before he falls asleep. 

  
  


What actually happens is Minho accidentally taking a wrong turn because he wasn’t paying attention to the direction they were going. Or maybe several, because now has no idea where the fuck they are.

  
  
  


When Minho realizes this is what happens when he doesn’t recognize the street they’re on, a slight panic settles. Seoul is a big city and the last thing he wants is to get lost in it. He looks worriedly at the oblivious boy beside him, unknowing that Minho has fucked up. 

Maybe getting lost wouldn’t be so bad if Minho had only taken one wrong turn, but that was not the case. He had probably taken multiple, as he was too busy thinking of other things, and his tiredness did not help him get out of his thoughts. 

Then Minho’s mouth pops open, slumping his shoulders as he mentally face palms himself. He can just get directions for their apartment off his phone. Minho really does need sleep for not realizing sooner. But of course, thanks to Minho’s amazing luck, when he reaches for his phone in his back pocket to unlock it, a dead battery symbol pops up on his screen, indicating that it died. 

He lets out a frustrated groan, before he decides to shake the tired boy next to him, who has been mumbling to himself while staring at the ground, unknowing of what’s happening. 

“Hand me your phone.” Minho says in a low, exhausted voice.

“What for?” The younger boy questions, doe-shaped eyes going wide and curious looking as he moves his head up to stare at Minho confused.

Minho knows that if he were to tell Jisung that he got them lost, that the smaller would panic and start asking a bunch of worried questions. He can picture it, the exaggerated expression on the younger’s face. Minho is honestly pretty surprised that Jisung hasn’t figured out they were lost yet, considering they live in the same building and know the familiar route they always take to eat at their corner store. 

His surprise lifts, as Jisung’s face moves into a concerned one, as he glances around the street they’re at, unable to recognize the buildings and shops surrounding them. 

“I left it at your place.” Jisung finally answers at the realization, making eye contact with Minho now, biting his lip out of nervous habit. 

Of course he doesn’t have it. 

Minho lets out an exaggerated groan, multiple words wanting to leave his mouth. 

“Fuck,” Minho mumbles to himself, glancing around the street, trying to force his brain to remember if he’s ever been in this location, considering that Minho has grown up in Seoul, and that surely he might’ve been here at least once. It wasn’t far from their complex right? So why doesn’t he recognize where they are? He knows Seoul is a large city, but he didn’t think he’d be this lost, considering they probably aren’t far from their complex. Probably. 

He lets out a frustrated sigh, wanting to scold Jisung for not having his phone, but he can’t bring himself to, not wanting to make the younger one feel worse. He notices Jisung is unresponsive, and mentally hits himself for it, the last thing he wants to do is make Jisung anxious. 

“It’s fine Jisungie, I’ll figure it out.” Minho reassures with a soft smile, as he begins to walk back from where they came, in hopes that he’ll find something that will indicate where they are, and how to get back. The two walk by silently, but as they find themselves walking several blocks and no luck, Minho begins to get seriously worried. He tries not to show it, and reassures the younger every now and then with soft smiles. He assumes Jisung starts to catch on to Minho’s fake confidence, and in the next movement, a warm touch reaches his sweaty palm that was hanging loosely on his side. 

He glances down, acknowledging the hand that was cautiously placed in his, and when Minho glances back up to Jisung, he’s met with a goofy smile as Jisung gives the older’s hand a soft squeeze. 

They don’t say anything, and Minho contemplates if he should brush his hand off or keep walking. 

By why should he brush it off? Jisung’s hand in his didn’t make him uncomfortable or anything, there was no reason for it to, the younger boy was trying to make Minho feel better. It was a friendly gesture, uncharastically thoughtful from the blonde. Neither of them say anything as they begin to walk. 

In short, the two continue to walk until finally, Minho reaches a point where he can recognize the buildings around them. By now the younger had might as well been sleep walking. Minho’s hand had slipped from Jisung’s hand to his wrist, as he dragged the younger boy around the streets. When he was sure of their location, it wasn’t long that Minho had eventually walked them home, the two finally in front of the large apartment building. 

“See, I knew we could figure it out man!” 

Minho glances to the boy beside him, who interrupts the tired silence with an energetic outburst, he reaches out for a high five, which Minho slaps back and smirks amusingly. 

“We? I was the one who did all the work.” Minho says, rolling his eyes, the two now walking up the large staircase, Minho stopping at Jisung’s floor, to watch him get inside safely. 

Minho waves goodbye to the smaller boy, watching as his gummy smile disappears as he walks inside of his apartment. The hallway is quiet and empty now, the sounds from the younger now gone, left with just Minho and his thoughts as he shuffles upstairs to the next floor. 

When he reaches his door and steps inside, he notices immediately that Jisung’s phone is sitting untouched on the couch Jisung had previously sat on before Minho had shoved him. He lets out a grumble, mentally scolding the boy for being so careless. Normally Jisung takes his phone everywhere with him, and would freak out if it wasn’t on him. But tonight had been so unusual- had been too careless. 

Minho quickly pockets the phone, and steps out into the cold hallway of their building once again, heading downstairs to return the item. When he reaches Jisung’s door, he knocks loudly, in hope he hasn't already passed out. The lack of response indicates he has indeed, and that his roommate is either asleep as well, or out somewhere partying like usual. With a sigh, Minho crouches down, about to slide the phone under the door, until an idea pops up into his head. 

It’s a dumb idea really, it has no meaning, but Minho can’t help the curiosity forming as the older brings out his phone along with Jisung’s and unlocks it, sliding over to Jisung’s contact number. He smiles looking over their texts, before he glances back at Jisung’s lockscreen.

What does Jisung have his contact saved as? 

It really shouldn’t matter to Minho at all, but he can’t help but wonder. He’s seen what Jisung had saved everyone else’s contacts as in their friend group through screenshots, but he doesn’t know what the younger boy has saved him as yet. Minho stares at his phone, contemplating before hitting the call button to find out. 

This is really dumb, meaningless. 

The younger has saved Felix as “cutie lix”, and Chan as “bro” with heart emojis surrounding it, so he wonders what the nickname Jisung has saved for him. Part of Minho doesn’t want to get his expectations up, but part of him also hopes it's something sweet. Not like it matters. Minho tells himself he’s just curious, doesn’t care really. 

That’s why he decides to do it after a brief moment of thought, pressing the call button. He sees Jisung’s phone turn on and light up, Minho’s contact popping up. 

“ _ Minho hyung” is calling… _

Minho lets out a weak scoff, before quickly hanging up. He stares at the dark screen, when Jisung’s phone turns off, unmoving. The contact is completely normal, so why does Minho feel that the laugh he lets out is humourless-- fake? 

He smiles harshly to himself for being stupid, and slides the phone under the door, before turning to walk back to his apartment. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“How the fuck did you get lost walking to a corner store?” Chan snorts amused, as he stabs his fork into a chunk of steak.

Minho, Chan and Changbin are alone together today in a western restaurant, wanting time to hang out and take a break from the first years in their friend group. Minho had also not hung out with Chan and Changbin for a considerably long amount of time. Chan had initially invited the other two to join him, Minho at first flat out saying he wasn’t interested, until Chan’s cheery pestering made him cave. 

The restaurant is mostly empty, the sound of the workers moving around and light chatter from the only other people in the building are the only noises being heard. Minho takes a sip of his soda before facing back at Chan, face contorted in a deadpan.

“Correction; to our apartment.” Minho snaps back, his arms folded, with an annoyed sigh. 

“Like that’s any better, and like I said,” Chan sighs, leaning back into his chair, looking back at Minho, meeting his dead stare. 

“How the hell did you get lost? Minho you’ve lived here for several years.” Changbin chuckles amusingly, now also joining Chan’s stare at the boy in question. 

“Listen-” Minho presses his fingers to his temple, desperately wanting to change the embarrassing subject. Changbin barely suppresses a smirk, enjoying the frustration from the older, meanwhile Chan’s stare at Minho goes from amused to concerned. 

“I made a few wrong turns because I wasn’t paying attention, and it just so happened that my phone died, and Jisung left his at home.” 

“Seoul is a terrifying place at night,” Chan says slowly, eyeing Minho in a low tone of voice. “and you could’ve gotten fucked up, because you weren’t paying attention?” Chan asks, eyes narrowing as he scolds Minho. Changbin lets out a loud laugh, before Chan’s concerned glance shuts him up in an instant.

“I don’t know, I’m sorry.”

He lets out a frustrated sigh, guilt hitting him painfully. He hates to admit it but Chan was right-- he should’ve been paying attention to where he was walking, and it’s kind of hard to believe you can walk several blocks without noticing because you were  _ distracted.  _

However, it did indeed happen, and Minho regrets it. 

Besides, it wasn’t even just about losing your location-- no, it was about how Jisung was sleepy and vulnerable-- no phone, no energy, no experience of self defense, in the late evening of one of the largest cities in South Korea. Jisung was a scrawny boy, a shy and timid one too, and if Minho wasn’t by his side the whole time… well, he didn’t want to think of what could happen. Jisung could protect himself, as the latter claims, but Minho never wanted to see the day where he would have to. 

Chan seemed to know what was going through Minho’s head at the furrowed eyebrows on the brunette's face, his expression frozen in worry. Chan’s gaze softened, and faltered to an understanding one. 

“It’s okay, Min. Don’t be so hard on yourself, I was just worried about you two is all,” he pauses. 

“Okay maybe I was a little pissed at you for being so careless, but I know you know better.” Chan reassures with a soft smile, hand reaching across the table to place his over Minho’s fragile one to comfort him. Minho glances down at the placement of their hands. 

_ Jisung’s were softer.  _

“Yeah man, as long as you two are safe,” Changbin says, who has been uncharastically quiet the whole time, busy stuffing his face with food. 

“It’s funny though, If it were anyone else Minho might’ve just left them in the street.” Changbin jokingly adds, an airy laugh leaving his mouth full of food. 

“Changbin, no I would not--” A scoff escapes him, Minho stares at the shorter man, eyebrows raised. 

“Seungmin.”

“Ok maybe.”

“See? I knew he was soft for Jisung.” 

Minho nearly spits out his drink. Chan and Changbin give Minho a knowing look, sharing a teasing grin. 

“Haha real funny,” He says humorlessly. For some reason he has a strong urge to stab one of them with a fork. 

“I don’t even know what you mean.” Minho says, folding his arms, as he eyes the two with confusion on his face. 

“Oh nothing, we can just tell you really care about him.” Chan says with a satisfied smile, back to picking at the food on his plate, which is by now, almost empty. Knowing Chan, he’ll probably order more anyway.

“I’m so glad you found yourself a good friend, Min.” He says, with Changbin nodding beside him in agreement, before Changbin takes his fork, and snakes it over to steal a bite of Chan’s food. It leads to Chan yelling a “Hey!” and trying to get even, hand stretching over the shorter’s plate of food for payback. Minho just hums in response, staring down at his plate of food, barely touched. 

“By the way,” Minho says, finally able to change the painful subject, “How is the project going so far? The one you two and Jisung are working on together?”

Changbin and Chan’s expression completely change at the question, content and confident smiles reaching their faces. Minho can’t help but smile too, it was nice seeing his friends happy. Happy, and well, not scolding him for being stupid last night. 

“Actually we’re basically done,” Changbin starts, glancing over at Chan. “We turn it in tomorrow, so we basically have the rest of the week to ourselves for a little while, which means,” Changbin smirks, nudging his elbow into Minho’s side lightly.    
  
“We wanted to go to a party in a few days, did you want to come?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“What? Why? You always go to parties with us.” Chan says confused, interrupting what Changbin was going to say, which was probably the same thing. Minho just shrugs. 

“Dunno, I feel like I’ve been going to them too much lately.” Minho says flatly, continuing to finish what was on his plate of food. Changbin shakes his head in disbelief. 

“Lame.”

Minho nudges Changbin this time, but harder, causing the younger to let out a loud yelp of pain, with Chan laughing amusingly. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


When Minho goes to practice that day after a long lunch with Chan and Changbin, Minho can’t help but notice he’s completely out of it. 

He keeps messing up on simple moves in their choreography, his body not moving how he wants it to. His movements become sloppy and half-assed, and it makes Minho internally want to bang his head off one of the hard wooden walls in the studio room.

He feels like shit when Hyunjin and Felix eye him confused, but the two don’t say anything until their water break. Minho flops onto the floor, pulling one knee up to rest his arm against, the other lying straight on the floor, outstretched. 

Minho expects scolding, like he constantly has been getting the whole day when a figure walks up to him. When he looks up, he’s met with a freckled face of concern, eyebrows upturned into worry. 

“Is everything alright Minho hyung?” Felix asks, offering Minho another bottle of water, noticing that his is almost empty. Minho smiles at the younger boy, graciously taking the bottled water from him and opening it. 

“Yeah, I’m just tired is all.” Minho lies. Felix nods at him, concerned face lifting slightly, but worry still slightly present. 

“Okay… just go easy then if you need to.” 

The younger smiles genuinely, before returning back to the middle of the practice room to continue their routine. The rest of the team joins into the center of the room, and Minho forces himself to get up and finish the day. He meets their glances, reassuring them that he’s fine, with a fake smile plastered onto his face as they continue their practice. 

Hyunjin looks at him worriedly, but after a few moments, the worry is forgotten as the group starts to run through moves that require effort that Minho does not have right now. He falls behind once again, lost in his head. No one in the group gives him a hard time, which Minho is both grateful and guilty for. Felix glances over at Minho, flashing him a smile, which Minho returns softly, before continuing down the whole of bothering thoughts. 

The truth is, Minho is not tired. 

He is in fact the opposite really-- his mind completely restless ever since he left the restaurant with Chan and Changbin, and if Minho were to be brutally honest, ever since this morning, when Minho had woken with realization of the trouble he had caused Jisung the night before. 

He isn’t sure exactly why, but he can’t stop thinking of Chan and Changbin’s words earlier. 

_ “I knew he was soft for Jisung.”  _ What the hell does that even mean? 

Minho was never given a direct answer, just a shared laugh from those two dumbasses. Sure, he cares about the younger boy maybe more than he should, but soft for him? Minho assures himself that Changbin meant it lightheartedly, that Minho shouldn’t worry too much about his words. It’s normal to care about your friends, for his friends to care for Jisung. 

Jisung. 

Jisung who had held his hand so gently.

Jisung who is careful and shy touches, always soft and warm. Jisung who curls into Minho’s neck when he is sleepy, breath hot against his shoulder. 

Jisung who is gummy smiles and low giggles. The little blonde who snuggles up into Minho, the older threading his hands through his shaggy hair as comfort for them both. Hands that want to wander down, stopping at Jisung’s parted lips as he sleeps. 

The younger that he just wants to hold tight, making sure no one lays a finger on him other then Minho. 

  
  
  


Minho freezes. 

  
  
  


What the fuck is he thinking? 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!!


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